Exclusive extract from Luxe by Ashley Antoinette

9 September 2016

Three months, seven days, six hours, and twenty-two minutes. That's how long it had been.

Luxe

"One day at a time. Every day counts, every hour, every minute, every second," Bleu whispered as she sat in her car, surrounded by the darkness of night while gripping the steering wheel for dear life. There was urgency in her tone … panic … fear, because although she was completely alone, she was afraid of herself. Her heart pounded furiously. With the power of thoroughbred horses it beat, causing her shirt to rise and fall with her distressed breaths. She could feel herself weakening as the tears slid down her face. Mascara marred her flushed cheeks. Snot rested on her trembling lip. She needed help.

Three months, seven days, six hours, and twenty-three minutes. It was how long she had been clean. She distinctly remembered the last hit she had taken like it was yesterday, and the thought of the euphoric rush it gave her caused her to become aroused. Her nipples hardened and she clenched her thighs because the possibility of feeling that type of high once more was seducing her. Her knuckles turned white as she held on to the steering wheel with a death grip. She wished that she could glue her hands to it, to stop herself from doing the inevitable.

"Please, God, please," she whispered, but she knew there was no use in praying. She had prayed for everything her entire life only to end up empty-handed and disappointed. The devil had ahold of her. It was like her soul had been compromised from the moment she had taken her first breath. That was the only explanation for her hard-lived existence. Nothing came easy, and anything good that came to her was quickly taken away. One blast. That was all it would take to end her misery. She had not thought about getting high in three long months. In fact, a huge celebratory trip had been planned

to commemorate the accomplishment. She had done it. She had kicked the vicious drug habit that had taken ahold of her. She had lasted three months, seven days, six hours, and twenty-four minutes, but now it was calling her.